The American Spectator : Jersey Dogs

Jersey Dogs

By The Prowler on 6.12.09 @ 6:08AM

(UPDATE: REVISED TO CORRECT BENENSON STATEMENT)
(UPDATE II: LETTER FROM JOEL BENENSON INCLUDED BELOW*)

Republican New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie was issued a House Judiciary Committee invitation to appear before one of its subcommitees next week, with the knowledge and encouragement of the White House and Democrat leaders in the House of Representatives, according to House Judiciary sources.

According to House as well as state Democrat operatives, Christie received the invitation earlier this week to appear before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law to testify about a bill sponsored by two New Jersey Democrats, Rep. Bill Pascrell and Rep. Frank Pallone, both of whom have ties to various political operatives working on the re-election campaign of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. Corzine has been trailing Christie by double digits in the polls and is considered vulnerable for defeat next November.

"They want to smear Christie and try to damage him as much as possible," says one House Judiciary staffer. "We've been told that the Democrats have even given a photographer hired by the Democratic National Committee a press credential so that he can take a picture of Christie taking the oath before testifying. This is a show trial."

In fact, the White House was notified by aides to House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, who sits on the subcommittee chaired by Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen, that Christie was going to be called to testify. "The White House didn't have a problem with it," says a Democratic House leadership aide. "Of course this is political, there's no point in denying it. Everyone understands that if Christie and [Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob] McDonnell win in the fall, the tide we've been riding shifts a bit, and folks will be smelling blood in the water. Our leaders here have made it clear the White House is watching and wants us to help wherever we can."

Christie has been invited to appear before the subcommittee before, and was aware prior to his primary victory that he might be invited again. But Corzine is a target of Republicans nationally, and Christie, a former U.S. Attorney in the Bush Administration, is considered a strong candidate to knock off the one-term governor, former U.S. Senator and senior executive at Goldman Sachs. Corzine's situation, according to White House sources, has been monitored by presidential chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and senior adviser David Axelrod, both of whom of are indirectly overseeing the political operation in the White House.

According to White House sources, both Emanuel and Axelrod have grown increasingly uncomfortable with Corzine's situation, and had noted that well-known New Jeresey pollster Joel Benenson was providing polling services to Corzine. Benenson and his firm have long been viewed as one of the more influential figures in New Jersey politics, and his firm has in the past done polling work used by Democratic caucuses on Capitol Hill, as well as just about every major Democrat politico in New Jersey, including former Sen. Bob Torricelli, former Gov. Jim McGreevey, and Sen. Bob Menendez. Benenson was the Obama campaign's lead pollster in 2008 and Amy Levin, a principal in Benenson's firm, served as Axelrod's chief of staff up until Axelrod left his firm in December 2008. However, Benenson tells The American Spectator that he is not polling for Corzine.

*UPDATE II: At 11:33 p.m. Friday night, we received this letter in our Reader Mail:

It is essential to set the record straight. Not only is the Benenson Strategy Group not polling for Governor Corzine now, the firm, which was founded nine years ago, has never polled for Jon Corzine in either his Senate or Gubernatorial campaigns. Any White House source that provided you with this information is entirely uninformed and is trying to create false impressions about who is or is not involved with Gov. Corzine’s relection efforts.

Sincerely,
Joel Benenson
Founding Partner
The Benenson Strategy Group

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Democratic Party, New Jersey, Jon Corzine

Doctor Right| 6.12.09 @ 8:56AM

The New Jersey G.O.P. machine had the chance to nominate a REAL conservative in former Bogota, NJ Mayor Steve Lonegan, who single-handedly stopped Corzine's embryonic stem cell embroglio...But, feckless as always, the NJ G.O.P. coalesced instead around Christie...Yet another RINO in Conservative clothing, a la' Christine Todd Whitman.

Christie was an able State's Attorney, but he is no Conservative. He once considered running for Congress as a Democrat, and has come very late to his stated pro-life position. He attacked Steve Lonegan's excellent flat-tax plan in a way that would make a Liberal proud (claiming falsely that it would "raise taxes on 70% of New Jerseyans"), and where Lonegan offered executive experience, a track record of sticking it to entrenched democrats, and a host of well thought-out, specific plans, Christie offered only vague generalities and meaningless platitudes. Christie's support, from national, moderate RINOs like Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, also calls his Conservatism into question (meanwhile, Lonegan was endorsed by Ron Paul, and quietly supported by Mark Levin)

The Democrat machine publicly professed to prefer Lonegan as an opponent, but since 99% of everything that Democrats say publicly is a prima facie lie, one senses that they would have actually preferred to run against Christie.

Corzine may be behind now, but it's only June. The Democrats are working hard to register New Jersey's dead and illegal aliens, and make no mistake, they will all vote in November. And now, the smearing of RINO Chris Christie begins in earnest. The Democrats will dig deep to undermine him, including the plan to alienate NJ's Conservative Republicans, and get them to stay home on election day (and frankly, some of us are so fed-up with NJ's Country-Club Republican machine, we may be doing just that, anyway). Additionally, Chrstie has ethical problems of his own not mentioned in this article, so look for the Democrats to exploit this to the hilt.

On a side note...Sean Hannity, who professed neutrality in the NJ Republican Primary, had Christie on his radio and talk show, but offered no equal time to Lonegan, who garnered almost 45% of the final vote. One wonder what the hell Hannity, who brags about his Conservative creds, and who constantly stresses the need to elect "Real" Republicans, was thinking?? Thanks, Sean...You putz.

Eric Damon| 6.12.09 @ 10:03AM

Yeah, Hannity is sort of a fraud when it comes to wanting to see "real Republicans" elected to office. At the start of the 2008 campaign season, Hannity was the lead cheerleader for Rudy Giuliani (who one of my friends called Bald Hillary), then he switched to Mitt Romney (the father of state-run healthcare in Taxachussetts), then was a full throated McCainiac. For someone who wants to see "real Republicans" elected, he sure does support a lot of RINOs. My question about the Christie situation is if Hannity had him on before or after the primary process was complete, and did his having him on help him win it?

Doctor Right| 6.12.09 @ 10:22AM

To: Eric Damon

Hannity had Christie on his radio and TV show two times BEFORE the elction, most infamously on the day before the election.

And I made a mistake: Hannity says we should be committed to electing "REAL Conservatives", not "Republicans"...To me, this makes his actions in the Lonegan/Christie race even more unforgivable.

macdaddy| 6.12.09 @ 10:28AM

What's the bill he's supposed to testify about? If it isn't germaine to Christie, then he should be able to make hay about political corruption and abuse of power.

A little more info would have made this juicy tidbit even tastier.

Bram| 6.12.09 @ 3:14PM

Doctor Right - I voted for Lonegan too. The primary is over. Time to work on getting Christie and as many Republican legislators as possible elected.

JerseyJ| 6.12.09 @ 3:53PM

It's really too bad that now we're stuck with a moderate Republican with questionable moral values promising to cut taxes "across the board" once he can "determine what mess we're left with" after he gets into office (as he stated in the final gubernatorial debate). Read that, I'll turn up the BLAME knob to full blast as soon as I'm sworn in and not really do anything other than business as usual.

Corzine has vast personal resources and is already running negative (albeit false even according to NYT so they must be REALLY false) ads here in Jersey. He hired a talented dirt-digging investigative reporter before the primary was even over. Once Christie's first, as yet undiscovered scandal hits, he's sunk. Jersey politics almost rivals that of Chicago. Pray for us please.

What really bugs me is that "NJ's Country-Club Republican machine" (good term Doc) went head-over-heels to tell everyone that Christie was "electable" and Lonegan was "too extreme". It's a sad state when people vote for someone who will do nothing to represent them or their values simply because the establishment tells them he's got a better chance to win. Bah! I voted Lonegan and I'm still pouting about the results.

james| 6.12.09 @ 6:27PM

You can't go broke underestimating Jerseyites. They will reelect Corzine and continue their reign as the most corrupt, unliveable and geographically challenged state in the union. New Jersey is Chicago writ large. Amazing.

Basil Plumley| 6.12.09 @ 8:18PM

Sometimes, I get the feeling Hannity is a "just win, baby" GOPer. I had no problem with Rudy and Fred. The drop-off of talent from that point was apparent.
Ron Paul's ideas on foreign policy was a deal-breaker.

Angel| 6.12.09 @ 9:47PM

When I found out that Rudy didn't have a problem with partial-birth abortion, I developed a BIG PROBLEM with Rudy.

Angel| 6.12.09 @ 9:48PM

Are liberals triangulating us?

Basil Plumley| 6.13.09 @ 1:00AM

@ Angel
Rudy is more Libertarian than liberal. The one reason I liked him was leadership. If there was one thing missing during the Bush years it was decisive leadership.
Fred was very good but appeared to be tired and reluctant.
Romney was a flawed candidate. Looked like Reagan but that was about it.

Rudy's big problem was his refusal to flip-flop on issues like abortion. That is on top of running a horrible campaign; no ground game.
I believe his judicial nominees would have been very good and likely to overrule Roe. His Legal, Foreign Policy, and Economic teams were top-notch.
When it comes to abortion, I believe in the incrementalism approach. Roe is a very bad decision but it is ingrained in our moral relativist culture. It will go away, gradually; as it should.

Basil Plumley| 6.13.09 @ 1:03AM

Don't know about triangulation but they certainly got the guy they wanted last year. It makes me wonder if George Allen losing in 2006 set the tone for the lousy crop of candidates. The Left certainly went after him with the long knives.
Allen could have been a fine candidate.

Angel| 6.13.09 @ 3:47AM

Basil, abortion is one thing but Rudy didn't even object to late term abortion--that sorta put me over the edge.

I do like his leadership style though--so smart and so quick.

It's interesting (and disgusting) to watch the left work Sarah Palin over. It's like she's a bug under a microscope. I've never seen any politician's children attacked like Sarah's. They're trying to bloody her nose so she'll stay in Alaska. I hope she fights back.

I liked Allen, too--he could have been a contender--ha!

Old Texican| 6.13.09 @ 11:09AM

It seems NJ is in much the same boat as Il. Low percentage of conservatives voting at all, having given up with ALL politics and politicians.
Can't blame you guys really. My friends who live there just try to stay under the radar.

Basil Plumley| 6.13.09 @ 11:41AM

@ Angel
The amazing thing about these attacks on Sarah is that misogyny is now in vogue. I am sure Don Imus is wondering how he got fired; and he apologized how many times?

Then again, folks like Bob think it is cool to demean a woman; especially a "social conservative".

Angel| 6.13.09 @ 2:45PM

I was going to ask Bob if he was writing Letterman's jokes. Same liberal playbook.

That's why I lit him up.

Doc Bones| 6.13.09 @ 5:25PM

NJ has some of the most wealthy, highly educated and influential people living here and they vote like MORONS. The state ignored its own laws allowing Lousenberg to replace Torricelli lees than 30 days before an election. If you have a "D" after your name you are set.
I'm going to a no income tax sunbelt state ASAP

Ricken| 6.13.09 @ 11:10PM

Don't forget Steve Forbes, who at one time with Jack Kemp were big flat-taxers, and Reagan adopted their ideas. But now? Steve Forbes ran away from the flat-tax idea as if it was trash as soon as Steve Lonegan adopted it, but still has the balls to say he's a Reagan Republican. Don't make me laugh.

Bill| 6.14.09 @ 12:04AM

I moved down to Georgia from the Peoples Republic of New Jersey in late 2007 but have been following this closely. Corzine is awful just like in 1993 Flim-Flam Florio was awful. Christie will probably win and the GOP will take over the legislature just like with Christie Todd Witman in 1993. But Christie is a RINO just like Christie Todd Witless. And just like Witless he will fritter away the goodwill of the GOP and squander an opprtunity just like McCain in Sept when he had a small lead (thanks to Sarah) and just had to oppose the bailout to win. In 4-6 year the Dems will return to power and Christie will have done nothing to chnge things. The only difference between NJ Dems and NJ GOP: The Dems tax & spend while the GOP borrows and spends. I was saying this 10 years ago. The RINO Bush family followed the same path nationally, especially GW. I will vote for no more RINOs. I now regard Hannity as a phoney for the obscene way he treated the NJ primary.

Angel| 6.14.09 @ 2:24AM

Christie Todd Witless--lol!

roma| 6.14.09 @ 1:17PM

big thanks

BobSledd| 6.14.09 @ 7:45PM

Hannity is a fraud, with all that "you're a GREAT AMERICAN" melarkey..
He's a shyster windbag just making money as a Tv/Radio celebrity. His schtick is really getting old now, and I think he's a hindrance to Conservatives and Libertarians..
O'reilly is another populist blowhard.
Do we remember him railing against the OIL Co's when Oil as $140 a barrel, but became strangely silent when it fell to $40?
Anyway, I was a NJ registered Repub until I recently switched to INDEPENDENT.
I too, voted for Lonegan as he appeared to represent most of my thinking..
We will never get this right if we keep electing frauds and listening to nitwits like Hannity.
Hopefully, change is in the air, but we need another Reagan to emerge.
I haven't seen him yet.It's not Romney, it's not Sarah.. Hey the new president came out of nowhere..
Perhaps the next Reagan has yet to show himself.
Save your ears for Mark Levin.
An educated, experienced, well spoken, dyed in the wool Conservative.

Pauley| 6.14.09 @ 8:57PM

I like Levin a lot, too--but I don't think he'd ever put up with all the crap in politics.

nicky| 6.15.09 @ 4:04AM

Nike Men Air Force 1 High

Mike| 6.15.09 @ 12:04PM

Remember Witless and the HOV lane on I287? She puts in an HOV lane on a three lane interstate to help save the earth. It backfires, creating a rush hour parking lot and expanding New Jersey's carbon footprint to the size of Pennsylvania's. Her GOP primary opponents starts to gain some traction with the issue during her reelection campaign, so she lifts the HOV restriction right before the election. Then once she's safely reelected she reimposes the HOV lane.

I grew to hate that woman while sitting in traffic.

rickw| 6.15.09 @ 5:03PM

just wanted to +1 the comments from fellow oppressed NJ conservatives. All "spot on."

sestamibi| 6.16.09 @ 12:29AM

Well, maybe Corzine will be invited to another "must" event, find himself late and try to make up the time on the Turnpike . . .

Missy| 6.16.09 @ 12:56AM

Will he wear his seat belt this time? What a moron.

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